29 Jan 2009

India beat Sri Lanka in opening one-dayer

1:43 pm on 29 January 2009

The Indian cricketers have beaten Sri Lanka by six wickets in the opening match of their one-day series in Dambulla, Sri Lanka.

Opener Gautam Gambhir made 62 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni an unbeaten 61 to help India achieve a 247-run target with 11 balls to spare for a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

The Indian batsmen overshadowed opener Sanath Jayasuriya, who made 107 to become the oldest batsman to smash a one-day century and the second to complete 13,000 runs.

Man-of-the-match Jayasuriya's 28th hundred came at the age of 39 years and 212 days, beating the previous oldest century-maker, Englishman Geoff Boycott at 39 years and 51 days (v Australia at Sydney in 1979).

Jayasuriya is now the world's second-highest scorer with 13,070 runs after India's Sachin Tendulkar (16,427).